According to the legend, the first contest was on July 4, 1916, when four immigrants held a hot dog eating contest at Nathan's Famous original stand on Coney Island to settle an argument about who was the most patriotic.

Coney Island's top four competitors weighed in Thursday at a pre-contest event presided over by New York Mayor Bill de Blasio.

“Now, tomorrow, rain or shine, tens of thousands of people will descend on Coney Island to relish the great hot dog contest,” De Blasio said at the weigh-in. “That was my first attempt at a pun – to relish it. Get it, everyone?”

Chestnut weighed in at a solid 205 pounds, 75 more than his top competitor, Stonie.

For the women, Thomas weighed in at a mere 100 pounds, will Sudo weighed in at 115 pounds.

All the competitors said they were fasting, but Irish contestant Colin Shirlow grabbed a free hot dog during the weigh-in, the Associated Press reported.